Synthesis of oligonucleotides using chemical methods is generally limited to oligonucleotides of a maximum length of about 70 nucleotides to about 100 nucleotides. The synthesis of nucleic acid molecules of longer lengths has required different strategies. For example, one group described the synthesis of a 4917 bp polynucleotide encoding the MSP-1 protein complex of the Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite (Pan et al., Nucleic Acid Res. 27:1094-1103, 1999). This group used an asymmetric PCR-based synthesis of 600-1100 bp fragments which were then combined via their compatible unique cleavage sites at the ends of successive fragments. The synthesis of the 600-1100 bp fragments was performed using eight oligonucleotides which overlapped with their respective neighboring sequences. Four successive PCR steps were performed. In the first step, adjacent neighboring oligonucleotide pairs were combined in asymmetric proportions to generate four oligonucleotide products which were then combined in pairs with their neighbors to generate two oligonucleotide products. A third PCR step was performed using the first and eighth of the original eight oligonucleotides to reintroduce asymmetry of the two oligonucleotide products. This was then followed by combining the asymmetric products to generate the desired 600-1100 bp fragment. Asymmetric synthesis was performed by using a five to one ratio of the reacting oligonucleotides in order to favor synthesis along one strand during the first and third PCR steps to facilitate synthesis of the final double-stranded product. A similar approach was reported by Cello et al. (Cello et al, Science 297:1016-1018, 2002). These earlier approaches did not suggest any other approach to achieve an asymmetric synthesis along one strand, nor did they suggest a method for synthesis of a single-stranded product.